Enameling machine



9 D. s. STARRING ET AL 2,134,704

ENAMELING MACHINE Filed Dec. 17, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTQRS Ml flatad 6'. Starmng w/ Y Gearyeli. Or

A ORNEY 11:24:.26, 1939. D, T RR ET A 2,184,704

ENAMELING MACHINE Filed Dec. 17, 1936. 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 O Fi P i i l lLbf/ IN VENTORS Jazz id 5. S'arrirzg w'eorieli 7 AT. EY

Patented Dec. 26, 1939 ENAMELING MACHINE David S. Starring, GreensFarms, and George B. Horn, Fairfield, -Conn., assignors to WheelerInsulated Wire Company, Bridgeport, Conn., a corporation of ConnecticutApplication December- 17, 1936, Serial No. 116,284

4 Claims. (CL 242-25) This invention relates to wire enameling.Heretofore in the enameling of wire it was the practice to pass the wirefrom a source of supply to the enameling bath or dip, then through adrying oven, and again through the dip and oven a number of times, andthen have the wire pass around a capstan employed to draw or pull thewire through the said dip and oven, after which it was spooled in amanner suitable for use.

According to this prior arrangement the freshly enameled wire, afterbeing guided by one or several sheaves or pulleys, passed directly tothe capstan, being wound thereabout a number of times, and was thenspooled for subsequent use. The spooling or take-off mechanism waspowered through a friction drive so that a certain amount of slipexisted, since it wasimpossible to properly correlate the speed of thecapstan with that of. the spool, and since the proper functioning of thecapstan depended on a tension being maintained in the wire leaving it.

This frictional drive complicated the take-ofi mechanism, and was attimes troublesome, requiring attention and repair, and in addition therewas frequently experienced a fouling of the capstan sheaves due to thenumerous turns of the freshly enameled wire thereabout and the pressureof said wire in the sheaves. Also, the finish of the wire was marred inpassing over the capstan.

It is an object of the present invention to obviate these disadvantages,and in the embodiment thereof shown herein .this isaccomplished byproviding an improved take-off or spooling mechanism which spools thewire for future use while also functioning to draw the wire through theenameling dip and oven, thereby making unnecessary the use of a capstanfor this latter purpose, and making unnecessary the use of a frictionaldrive in the power transmission of the" spools. Thus the take-offmechanism is simplified considerably, and operation is more uniformdilference'in the diameters of the core and the 5.: outside wire of afully wound spool is sufficiently slight that the linear speed of thewire isalways 1 within practical limits.

The invention is shown embodied in an enameling machine adapted to coata number of wires simultaneously, and the take-off mechanism providedincludes improved spool mounting and driving means, and improvedwire-guiding means associated therewith whereby a large number ofseparate strands of wire can be satisfactorily passed through themachine and spooled for use required. I

l0 1 with a minimum of apparatus and floor space" Other features andadvantages will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of theimproved take-off mechanism embodied in a wire-drawing machine.

Fig. 2 'is an inside elevation of the takeoff mechanism.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a top or plan view.

' Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view showing thereciprocating'mechanismin detail.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary inside elevation, enlarged, of the reciprocatingmechanism.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary section taken on the line a-a of Fig. 6, showingthe reciprocating mechanism guide follower in upper position.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentarysection taken on the line b-b of Fig. 6, showingthe position of two half nut driving armscorresponding to the positionof Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary section on line aa of Fig. 6, showing the guidefollower in lower position, and

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary section on line b-"b; 4 showing thecorresponding position 'of the half nuts. 4

Referring to Fig. 1, the enameling machine embodying the presentinvention comprises wiresupply means broadly desigiiatedby the numeral t20, enamelingdips or baths 2|, drying ovens 22; 1

and take-off or spooling mechanisms"23. The

uncoated wires are fed to the machine from sup: ply spools 24 held onvertical pins carried by brackets'25 which are mounted on verticalposts. 26 fastened to the floor on each side of the ovens 22. There arefour spools for *each side of the machine, but only those nearest theobserver are shown in the drawings.

Eachspool has a fric-- of pulleys carried by; a pivotally' mounted,

weighted member, as shown. The wires from the.

spools pass around the pulleys of the tensioning devices to pulleys 29carried near the lower ends of the ovens, and from said pulleys thewires pass under sheaves 36 located at the bottoms of the ovens, saidsheaves being partially immersed in the enameling fluid in the dips 2|.

The ovens 22 are carried by a frame having vertical posts 3|, whichposts also support the enameling dips 2| and, by means of a bracket 32.the pulleys 29.

In passing under and around the sheaves 30 for the first time, the wiresare initially coated with enamel, after which they pass upwardly throughthe ovens 22 where the initial coating is dried. The wires pass oversheaves 33 at the tops of the ovens and down again outside of the ovens,under and around the sheaves 36 for a second coating of enamel. Againthe wires pass through the ovens where the second coating is dried, andthis procedure is repeated a number of times until the desired enamelcoating is obtained. The wires are then brought over the sheaves 33 afinal time, and pass to the takeoff and spooling mechanisms of themachine.

According to the present invention there are provided improved take-offand spooling means adapted to draw or pull the wires from the supplyspools through the enameling dips and ovens while at the same timespooling the wires preparatory to subsequent use. Fig. 1 shows theenameling machine as equipped with two of these takeoff or spoolingmechanisms. Each mechanism is identical with the other, and thereforeonly one will be described.

Referring to Figs. 2 and 3, the improved takeoil mechanism comprises acentral vertical supporting post 35 carrying a plurality of take-offspools 36, said post being secured to the floor by means of a base plate35. The post 35 carrieshorizontal spindles 31 which are journaled attheir centers in suitable bearings mounted in the post, there beingshown by way of example five such spindles. Each spindle carries twobobbins 36 which are secured thereto for quick removal by winged nuts38. i

For the purpose of driving all the bobbins simultaneously, the spindles31 have sprocket gears driven through chains 39. The lowermost spindle31 is driven from an electric motor 40 through suitable gearing asshown.

In Fig. 2, the bobbins carried by the lowermost spindle 31 are shown asnot having any wire on them, these bobbins being preferably used for thepurpose of starting the wires. It will be noted that the bobbins 36 havea core diameter which is large relative to the depth of the layers ofwire which said bobbins are to carry, and therefore, since the bobbinsfunction to pull the wires through the machine, the linear speed of saidwires will remain substantially constant for a given constant speed ofrotation of the bobbins, regardless of whether the bobbins are fully oronly partially wound. This is of importance since uniformity in theenamel coating of the wires depends on the speed of the wires passingthrough the enameling dips and ovens, as well as on the temperature ofthe ovens and the composition of the enameling fluid.

For the purpose of guiding the wires, after they are finally coated,from the tops of the ovens to the spools, there is provided an improvedwire-guiding mechanism carried by the post 35. This mechanism comprisesan elongate rigid frame having vertical members 4| and cross members 42,said frame being braced by a diagonal strut 43. This frame is attachedby journals to a sliding sleeve 44 movable on a slide rod 45 whichlatter is mounted by means of brackets 46 to a cross plate" at the topof the post 35. The frame is thus laterally movable relative to the post35, and the sleeve 44 may be turned relatively to the frame. The lowerportion of the frame has a short arm 48 attached to the cross member 42and extending downwardly, said arm being movable within a guide strip 49carrled by abracket 50 at the lower inside portion of the post 35, andthe frame is thus prevented from swinging about the slide rod .45, butyet is permitted to move freely in a lateral direction.

The vertical members 4| have upper portions 4|a beyond the sleeve 44,said portions extending toward the ovens 22 at an angle, as shown, andsaid portions being connected at their upper extremities by a transverserod 5| carrying pulleys 52 over which the wires from the ovens pass.

The vertical members 4| of the frame carry a plurality of pulleys 53,one for each spool 36, the pulleys being mounted on pins located on theframes closely adjacent the spools. Thus it will be seen that the wiresemerging from the tops of the ovens pass over and are guidedby thepulleys 52 at the top of the frame, and from there pass to theindividual pulleys 53 and thence to the spools 36.

For the purpose of reciprocating the frame simultaneously with turningof the spools 36 there is provided a traverse screw 54, see Figs. 4, 5and 6, having reverse threads, said screw being rotatably carried by thebrackets 46. The traverse screw 54 is driven from a countershaft 55 bymeans of a sprocket chain 56, said countershaft in turn being driven bya sprocket chain 51 from the uppermost spindle 31. The traverse screw 54is engaged alternately'by a pair of half nuts formed on arms 58 and 59carried by the sleeve 44 at the ends thereof, said sleeve havingattached to its center an operating arm 60 actuated by a cam bar 6|mounted on the plate 41. The operating arm 60 is provided with a slotintermediate its ends through which traverse screw 54 passes, said armbeing provided at its end with a resilient blade 62 adapted to engageeither the upper or lower surface of the cam,

When the blade is engaging the lower surface of said bar the operatingarm will be in the position shown in Fig. I, and the half nuts in theposition shown in Fig. 8, the half nut carried by the arm 58 engagingthe traverse screw 54 so that the sleeve 44 and frame carried therebywill move from left to right. As this movement reaches its limit theblade- 62 will engage a resilient switching blade 63 carried by theplate 41, see Fig. 6. so that when said blade 62 has passed the end ofthe cam bar it will be urged upwardly by the switching blade. This willcause the operating arm 80 to swing upwardly, disengaging the half nutcarried by the arm 58 from the traverse screw 54, and causing a half nutcarried by the arm 59 to engage the reverse threads carried by saidscrew. The sleeve 44 and frame carried thereby will therefore now movefrom right to left, the cam blade 62 riding up on the inclined surface6|a at the end of the cam bar. The arm 60 will now have the positionshown in Fig. 9, and the half nuts the position shown in Fig. 10, andthe sleeve and frame will move from right to left. When the limit ofthis movement is reached the cam blade 62 will engage a second resilientswitching blade 64 carried by the plate 41, and be urged downwardly todisengage the half nut from the traverse screw.

The operating arm 60 will thus swing downwardly again and the sleeve 44and frame will move from left to right, this cycle being repeated aslong as turning of the traverse screw continues.

Thus, the frame carrying the guiding pulleys for the spools 36 willreciprocate laterally simultaneously with turning of said spools, andthe freshly enameled wires will be guided on the spools 36 in evenlayers at the same time that the said spools are pulling or drawing thewires from the supply spools through the dips and ovens.

It will be readily understood that the traverse frame will undergostresses due'torthe fact that the wires guided by the pulleys thereofare under tension because they are pulled by the spools 36. Theslide-bar mounting of said frame and the means for reciprocating theframe, all as described herein, together with the sliding con nection atthe lower end of the frame, are particularly well adapted to functionperfectly for working stresses as caused by the tensioned wires.

After the spools 36 are completely filled with wire they are removed byunscrewing the winged nuts 38 and replaced with empty spools.

Variations and modifications may be made within the scope of thisinvention and portions of the improvements may be used without others.

We claim:

1. A device of the type described, comprising a supporting post; aplurality of spools; means, including a plurality of spindles journaledat their centers in the post, one spindle for each pair of spools, formounting said spools for rotation on said post; means for driving thespindles in unison; a frame; means for mounting the frame on the postfor reciprocative movement relatively to the spools; a plurality ofwire-guiding pulleys carried by the frame, one pulley for each spool,and each pulley being adjacent its associated spool; a second pluralityof pulleys of like number, carried by the frame and disposed laterallyof the first plurality of pulleys to receive and guide the strands tothe first-mentioned pulleys; and means for reciprocating the framesimultaneously with turning of the spools.

2. In a device of the type described, a supporting post; a plurality ofspools; means carried by the supporting post for supporting said spools,said means comprising a spindle for each pair of spools mounted in saidsupporting post for rotation; means for simultaneously driving saidspindles; a traverse frame mounted on the post for reclprocativemovement relative to the spools; a plurality of wire-guiding pulleyscarried by the frame at one side thereof to receive and support thewires during movement to the plurality of spools; a second plurality ofpulleys mounted on the frame, one pulley for each spool located adjacentsaid spool to receive and support the wire and to guide it to the spool;and means driven by the spool-driving means for reciprocating the frameto cause the wire to be laid on the spools by the last-mentioned pulleysduring rotation of the spools.

3. In a device of the type described, a sup porting post; a plurality ofspools for receiving wire, said spools being of relatively largediameter with respect to the finished wound diameter of the spoolwhereby but slight changes in linear speed of the wire occur duringwinding; means carried by the supporting post for supporting saidspools, said means comprising a spindle for each pair of spools mountedin said supporting post for rotation; means for simultaneously drivingsaid spindles; a traverse frame mounted on the post for reciprocativemovement relative to the spools; a plurality of wire-guiding pulleyscarried by the frame at one side thereof to receive and support thewires moving to the plurality of spools; a second plurality of pulleysmounted on the frame, one pulley for each spool located adjacent saidspool to receive and support the wire and to guide it to the spool; andmeans for reciprocating the frame to cause the'wire to be laid on thespools by the last-mentioned pulleys during rotation ofthe spools.

4. In a device of the type described, a supporting post; a plurality ofspools; meanscarried by the supporting post for supporting said spools,said means comprising a spindle for each pair of spools mounted in saidsupporting post for rotation; means for simultaneously driving saidspindles; a traverse frame mounted on the post for reciprocatlvemovement relative to the spools; a plurality of wire-guiding pulleys,one for each wire, carried by the frame at one side thereof to receiveand support the wires to be wound on the plurality of spools; a secondplurality of pulleys mounted on the frame, one pulley for each spoollocated adjacent said spool to receive and support the wire and to guideit to the spool, said pulleys holding the wires leading to the spools inspaced relation and out of contact with one another; and means forreciprocating the frame to cause the wire to be laid on the spools bythe last-mentioned pulleys during rotation of the Spools.

DAVID S. STARRING. GEORGE B. BORN.

